Chapter 21 –

On Sunday, Elizabeth and Erik sat in the dining room, unsure of what to do. They had finished most of the things she had wanted to get done for the week. He worked very efficiently and once again, she was grateful for his presence once again.

"What would you like to do today?" he asked during a particularly long silence.

"I'm not sure. We could go for a horseback ride, but I'm not really in the mood." Elizabeth answered.

"So why would you suggest it?"

"Because, after all the help you have given me, I owe you, and if you really wanted to go for a ride, I'd agree."

"You choose." he said, somewhat childishly.

"You know, sometimes you make me want to…"

"Don't finish that." He responded, unfazed by it. She eyed him but then playfully threw a piece of toast at him. He hadn't been expecting it and he ended up with jam across his sleeve. "So now you want to paint me with strawberry jam? It's very appealing."

"Painting…hmm, I've got an idea. Erik, go upstairs and put on your worst outfit."

"Are you claiming I own outfits that are bad?"

"Fine. Put on your outfit that is the most worn out."

"That's better, but what for?"

"I've got an idea, but it's a secret." She smiled and hurried up to change. Erik slowly finished his breakfast and went upstairs afterward. They changed, Erik into the outfit he had left Paris with, and Elizabeth into an old dress that was worn from age and full of holes through the bottom of it.

"Put this on." She handed a blindfold to him.

"You would like me to put that blindfold on." It was a statement rather than a question.

"Yes, and you will." She gave it to him. He held it in his hand but didn't put it on. "Please." She added, with a hint of disappointment on her face. He frowned, then sighed, but finally put it on his face. He didn't see the smile on Elizabeth's face, but he felt it when she jumped into a hug. "Thank you." Immediately she backed away, feeling like a stupid schoolgirl again. Luckily he missed seeing her blush.

They traveled for a few minutes until they stopped. "Why are we at the school?" Erik asked.

Elizabeth whipped around. "What? How can you possibly know that? Did you take the blindfold off?"

" Elizabeth, I've come here every day since I came to the school, and half the time I take this carriage. I think I know how long the trip takes."

"Fine then, but you're still keeping that on." She got out and he followed without help. She walked ahead of him to the school and held his shoulder going up the front steps.

As they walked, he remembered where he was. And as soon as he smelled paint he knew exactly what they were going to do, but he stayed quiet for Elizabeth's sake. It meant a lot to her, so he stayed quiet.

"Okay, take the blindfold off." She said. He did and saw the. smile on her face. She looked so excited.

"Oh, we're painting are we?"

"Yes, we have nothing better to do and I think that we can do most of it today. Then I won't have to pay those lazy painters for another whole week."

"All right." He was not one to do laborious activities like this, but for her it seemed he'd do almost anything. "We have to be quiet though, because some of the students are here for the weekend."

"I know Erik." He just smiled and headed towards the paint. He grabbed a brush and she followed suit, then opened the blue paint. He began to paint the bottom of one of the sets and she climbed up on a ladder to do some of the higher ones. After a minute she turned to Erik. "Can you pass me some more paint?"

"Sure. Here you go." He grabbed a can of paint and held it up to her. She reached but she just didn't have long enough arms. She reached even farther forward, felt the ladder tipping, and screamed.

Elizabeth and the ladder were now falling towards Erik. He grabbed her arms quickly and pulled her harshly towards him, and fell backwards so that the ladder didn't land on either of them. Elizabeth landed hard on top of Erik, then got paint dumped all over her back and in her hair. When she looked up from the crook of Erik's neck she saw that she had the better end of things. She had paint all down her back, but he had it all over his face. "Oh dear," was all she could say. He opened his eyes and the bright blue of them stood out even more than it usually did. "Are you all right, Erik? I'm so sorry, I thought I could reach."

"I've been better." He finally groaned. "Better question, are you all right?"

"Thank you." was all she said. She could hardly move. Then she saw the look on his face. "Oh, Erik, I'm so sorry, the paint should come out, though." Her face changed and her mouth opened but she didn't say anything. Finally, after looking frantically around amidst the paint, she finally spoke. "Erik, your mask." His hand was immediately at his face and he looked frantically around for the mask, too. Elizabeth found it under her skirt and picked it up, handed it to him, and immediately it was on his face. He refused to look at her. "Erik, I'm really sorry…"

"Don't…" He replied, still not looking at her. He stood up and headed to walk away. She got up after him and went towards him, but slipped on another puddle of paint. He quickly turned to help her up. When she was safely on her feet, he turned towards the door again. She grabbed his wrist.

"Erik, stop!" she exclaimed loudly, and pleaded for him to look at her.

"I'll be back at the house. I'll be busy for the rest of the day." Tears began to stream down her face.

"Erik, I didn't see anything! Your face is covered with paint. Please don't leave." Neither of them saw the girl standing in the doorway behind them. She grabbed his wrist to stop him, but he pushed her away by her shoulders.

"Miss Bennet—Sir—are you all right?" It was Caroline. She covered her mouth immediately, knowing she had interrupted a private moment, but she was startled to see them covered in blue paint. She was blushing. "Miss? Sir?"

"We're all right, Caroline. Could you get us some damp cloths to get the paint off?" Elizabeth replied.

"Yes." Caroline ran off the other way. A few other teachers and students came in to see what the bang was. The two didn't notice all that much, they were both in shock and didn't know what to say. Elizabeth had lied to Erik, she had seen his face, and it did shock her, but she refused to let him know that.

By the time Caroline returned with damp cloths, Erik had left and Elizabeth sat on the ground crying. "Here, Miss Bennet," She handed the cloths to her and Elizabeth took them. "Thanks, Caroline, you should maybe go to your room."

"Yes, Miss." Elizabeth stayed in the room. She locked the door, then collapsed on the floor again and began to cry. She didn't even know why. She felt pity for him, but he would never accept that. She felt horrible that she had seen the one thing that he had tried so hard to hide from the world. It was his biggest secret and she had intruded. She needed to talk to him. She couldn't let them avoid each other for another month or two.

She dried her eyes and headed back toward the carriage. She didn't speak to anyone on the way out, although she knew she was getting strange looks because she had blue paint smeared all over her, including the marks of Erik's hands on her when he pushed her away. When she got to the carriage, Caroline ran out to her. "Miss Bennet! Miss Bennet!" she called after her. Elizabeth turned around. The girl was crying. "Is Mr. Erik leaving? What happened? He can't leave we need him! What are we going to do without him?"

"Caroline, don't worry. We'll be back at school tomorrow, I promise. Both of us will."

"Goodbye, I hope everything turns out all right." Caroline replied weakly.

Elizabeth turned and bent down to her level. "Everything is wonderful, don't worry." The girl nodded. Elizabeth got into the carriage and Caroline stood watching as she drove away. Sometimes she thought that the girl was so young for her age. She deserved consistency in her life and she had never gotten it.

When she arrived back at the house, she walked inside only to be mobbed by the staff. "Miss Bennet, what happened? Mr. Erik was in minutes ago and he was covered in the same blue paint. He seemed very upset. He hurried upstairs and we haven't seen him since."

"How long ago did he come in?"

"Maybe fifteen minutes, Miss." Elizabeth nodded and headed towards Erik's area of the house. She had barely gotten into the hallway when he swept past her, a suitcase in hand.

"Erik, Erik, stop, wait!" She chased him down to the stables. "You can't leave, Erik."

"I shall send you money for the horse and the suitcase. Do not try to contact me." He replied in a monotone voice that Elizabeth couldn't read.

"Erik please, what about the students, they need you, the school needs you. You can't leave."

"The music is written. They can easily learn it."

"Erik, please."

"I can not stay and you know that."

"Why not, nothing important happened, I didn't even see."

"Yes you did, you're lying to me. I saw your face, I saw the look of horror the rest of the world has given me. You are no different than any other person who has ever seen beyond my mask." He screamed it at her savagely.

"Yes, I am, Erik."

"You are not."

"Yes, I am. You know it. Erik, it's not horrible. I was scared of your reaction, scared of what would happen. I knew how big of a deal it was." She changed the subject. "Erik, you have paint all over you, you can't just leave. You need to get it off, it's getting into your eyes and it might…"

"Don't!" He moved away from her and continued to load his things onto the horse. "I will not stay, and I think I can manage some paint."

"Erik please, it's not a big problem, we can just pretend that it never…" She began desperately but she was cut off.

"Pretend it never happened? Elizabeth, I cannot pretend that this never happened. You would never understand what I have gone through, you can't ever understand. Since I met you I've been trying to hide this from you, but eventually everyone finds out. Everyone sees it. When that happens, it is a sure sign that I need to leave."

"Erik, please! You can't go. Do you know what happened after you left? Caroline chased me down the walk and begged me to make sure you came back. You'll break her heart if you don't, and you know it. Erik, you love them as much as I do, and they need you, they have gotten to be amazing performers since you came into their lives. I can't run this school without you, and you know that. Erik, we need you, and even more than that, I need you. I can't do all this alone. You need to be there, I have never had someone as talented and amazing as you in my life. I've never had a companion like you, Erik. I need you in my life, Erik, and I know that you need me."